Van De Graaff #1

This is one of the projects that i have recently started. It is a Van De Graaff. A Van De Graaff is a static electricity generator. I have acquired an old tread mill that has a 1.8 hp engine in it. There is a picture of it below. The old control circuit board was fried so I tried "hot wiring" it. This worked partially but I had to continuously tap two wires together. I have recently wired it up to a variable transformer from the mains that goes up to 12 volts but that only makes the engine crawl along. I tried putting it through a step up transformer but i could not figure out how to wire it.

The Engine

 Hopefully in the end I will be able to make a good spark. This is can be dangerous if used correctly but it can be a tad dangerous and whole lot of fun.  

Pre-apart taking



I think it used to be for a car

My First Blog: High Voltage Jacobs Ladder

Hey everybody, for my first blog I will tell you about my High Voltage Jacobs Ladder. I will upload some photos of it in a few days but at the moment i will just tell you about it. I used two microwave oven transformers that, when powered up have a high voltage output of 4KV which is 4000 Volts or over 15 times the voltage of our houses. The immense voltage ionises the air and creates a path of low resistance through the air that allows the power to jump to the earthed wires. I got the two microwaves from my local tip and with them there were a few other bits and pieces like an AC motor that when the drive is moved it makes a decent amount of power that shocks you... I found this out the hard way.In total I have blown 4 fuses,the cost of these fuses amounts to more than the worth of the rig. This high voltage is more than enough to kill you but if you do it safely it can be dangerous and fun.

Through the welding mask

A great sign

I made it remote control :)



The ladder